Investing in Digital Public Infrastructures ‘crucial’ for promoting European independence 

Promoting independence and collaboration across Europe in the sector of Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs). This is the topic about which the Members of the European Parliament (EPP, S&D, Renew, the Greens and The Left) chose to give a multi-party support, underscoring the desire to embed this vision into the agenda of the next European Commission.

That is what has emerged after the event “Toward European Digital Independence”, that took place on Tuesday 24th of September at the European Parliament in Bruxelles. 

The debate discussion focused on the importance of investing in European public goods and infrastructures, with Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) being highlighted as crucial to fostering a European innovation ecosystem.

Cristina Caffarra, Co-founder and Vice Chair of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), stressed that: “Europe’s dependence on big providers benefits the tech giants and hinders our continent’s ability to grow independently”. 

“We need – she added – to create and coordinate a plan that policies and catalyses efforts to build European digital independence”.

The event in Bruxelles convened leaders and experts with practical knowledge in areas like open AI models, data spaces, privacy-preserving digital IDs and digital payments. 

Much of attention has also been given to the United States, both in terms of competitiveness with Europe and the many talented young people who choose to leave the EU and head overseas. 

“There is a disproportionate control that a few US corporations have over global digital infrastructure: just three US companies hold 70% of the cloud market” assessed the President of the Signal Foundation Meredith Whittaker. “Europe needs to focus on building its own digital public infrastructure to avoid similar dependencies” she commented. 

The MEPs, furthermore, also chose to focus on the Commitment for the Next Mandate. 

“Despite discussions on digital independence five years ago, Europe has fallen further behind in its ambitions – said Axel Voss (EPP) – we have various obstacles, including over-regulation, a lack of skills, and high energy costs, which are impeding Europe’s digital progress. Europe could become a link between technology and values, but that it must act quickly. The EU needs to reduce bureaucracy and costs for startups, as well as to spend more public money on European digital infrastructure”.

While Lina Gálvez Muñoz (S&D) discussed the importance of using private savings to fund European digital investments, stressing the need for a fiscal union in Europe, Li Andersson (The Left) decided to focus on three main areas on which Europe has to focus: reducing dependencies on companies and countries that do not share European values, building public digital services that improve the daily lives of European citizens and  creating European solutions that reflect local values, rather than trying to compete directly with US tech giants.

Lastly, Alexandra Geese (Greens) emphasised the need for partnerships between Europe and the rest of the world to foster global cooperation on digital issues. “The issue is not just about increasing funding but directing it strategically to support Europe’s digital goals” she added.